Care:
Platys are very easy to care for, and are great beginner fish. Platy’s prefer water temperature at 76-79F ( 24.4-26.1C). Platy’s are very hardy, and can adapt to many types of water. PH can rage from acidic (6.5) to basic (8.2). Platy’s have even been reported to live in brackish water (lightly salted water) and experience no negative effects of it.Diet:
Flake, frozen, freeze dried, and live food is all accepted by the Platy, and all should be fed to them on a rotating basis. Although flake can be their staple diet, it will keep them more healthy to feed varying food, and help them show better colors. Fry (baby fish) will also be consumed by the Platy and company.

Sexing:
There are many ways to sex a Platy (these sexing methods, by the way, can be applied to all livebearers), but there are two that are more widely used than others. The first method is to observe the shape of the Platy, Females will be longer, and also have wider stomachs (even when not pregnant) than males. The second method (and most accurate) involves observing the three fins on the underbelly of the fish. Female Platy’s will have three almost identical fins, two a little further up the belly (closer to the front) than the rear, and with a male, the two frontal fins will be the same, but the aft fin will be much smaller, and pointed.

Breeding:
Breeding Platy’s is said to be exceptionally easy, because the caretaker of the fish has to do nothing to start it, and usually can do nothing to prevent it. Platy’s, like all other livebearers (Molly’s, Guppy’s, Swordtail’s, and Mosquito Fish) give birth to live young, and do not lay eggs, so for a period of time, the fish is actually pregnant. Gestation usually lasts about a month, at which point the fry are released from the mother, and usually shortly thereafter are eaten by the mother and other platys. Determining whether a Platy is pregnant, like sexing, is not hard to do. If she exhibits one or all of the following signs, she is most likely pregnant.

1. She is much fatter than you remember her, and seems about ready to explode
2. She has a black spot that was not there before forming above the three fins used to determine the sex (this spot is called a gravid spot, and is said to be the eyes of developing fry)
3. She is a Platy

Caring for fry, like everything else about the Platy, is also exceptionally easy. If you would like a large brood (batch, litter, etc.) of fry, it is best to isolate the mother in a breeding net (purchasable at almost any Local Fish Store (LFS)) or even a separate tank, but make sure to do so before she is giving birth or close to it, or she will abort the babies and reabsorb them. There are many liquid foods and such out there and to feed baby fish, but Platy’s are not demanding, and therefor flake food crushed into tiny pieces will do. Feed in the morning and at night, and feed small amounts.

Comments:
Platy’s are a very hardy fish, and are good beginner fish, but are in no way limited to those who have just started keeping fish. They have a very inquisitive personality, and will explore all levels of the tank. Platys have a wide range of colors, including red, orange, yellow, white, black, and blue, with many different combinations of the colors. They can be found at almost any LFS, and are one of the cheapest fish available.

My platy had her babies last night and I moved them into the rearing tank. But they don’t look very happy. They stay down at the bottom of the tank and don’t like to swim around alot. Is this normal behavior? I could really use some advice, since I am new to the whole breeding thing.

mattie simmons: Congratulation!!! ya it’s normal. the new born babies seldom move around. they only started to have active movement after 1 week or 2. during this time, u need to feed them to eat some nutritien food like tiny baby prawn which have smaller size than them. good luck to u!

My platy just gave birth tonight….I think there are eight alive and swimming….but the mother didn’t make it….I was at work but my husband watched her give birth…he said on the 9th fish she started darting around the breeder tank and then died.Is this a common occurence? I feel so bad….any info would be appreciated.

I posted about a week and a half ago that my platy had babies and the mother died….I moved the four remaining babies to a 10 gallon tank because My other fish were somehow able to get the babies out of the breeder tank…..the babies would be next to the sides and my other fish seemed to suck them right out. My problem is that it appears that there is ich on the walls of my tank…clear white clusters all over the walls…there are only the babies in the tank. Is it safe to treat them for ich ? any suggestions would be very helpful.

Hello there i have a platy that is pregnant and im sure is ready to give birth, I have a question thought right now for about the last 2 hours she has been staying at the bottom of the tank and looks like she is having a poop but its like an redish orange color is this a sign that she is going to deliever, i missed my swordtail giving birth and i really hope to see my platy have hers this time my swordtail had 38 babies they all survived and are almost ready to join my other fish i think they are almost the lenght of my thumb nail is what i was told before i put them in tank with other fish they should be about the size of my thumb nail ? any replys would be very greatful to hear thanks and happy new year to all Heather

Hi, I also have baby fish, but mostly guppy fry. My black and white spotted platy is pregnant again and I’ve been doing extra research to know what to do about it sice last time, none of her fry survived. I’m still new at breeding and am loving the hobby. Your question about your baby platies, as long as they’re half the size as the other fish inyour tank, or twice the length than what they were when they were born, then it’s ok to add them to your tank.

Karissa: You need to check the size of the babies. Its really difficult to judge when you can put it to your tank. The most easy way to decide is to check if your big fish will able to eat the babies when they are put in the same tank. Further more if your baby fishes is too small, it might get attacked by the big fish.

Hi mark, thanks for visiting my site
i cant tell when your platy will give birth,
but for my experience they will give birth during the night time when all the lights are off.
you have to prepare a good environment for them to born their babies.
i usually put some plant for them to lay eggs.

There is no evidence shows that platies wont eat their fry for 12 hours.
If they are scared they will eat all their babies,
so dun frighten them or have big movement near the aquarium.

I keep finding tiny coloured stones glued to the side of the tank or under a leaf in the tank. I have three platies, 1 male and 2 female, no sign of babies yet though they all seem healthy and playful, so one of them must be doing it. Is this a platy habit? Or could they be something else deposited there? Do I have the world’s first platy lapidarist?

A couple months ago, my husband and I bought my daughter 4 platys. One died within a few hours of getting her in the tank. A month later, we completely lost the all red male. I cleaned the tank thinking maybe it died and just dissolved. The other day, after vacuuming out the tank, I found the all red male on the floor behind the tank. Am I missing something? Are they jumpers? There would have been no other way it could have gotten out of the tank. Out of the 4 platys we bought, there are two left. A red bodied, black finned male and an orange bodied, black sides female. They are on their second litter of babies. I’m so excited. In the tank, we have one bala shark, one algea eater, two platys (male and female) and two creamscicle mollies.

hi i just bought 3 platies and now i have 3 girls and 1 boy . will the girls fight over mating?
and will a metalic blue female mate whith a white male. will my male make my two non pregnant platies pregnant or will there be a wait between mating. is it possible to cross breed a platy with
a swordy.whats the maximum amount of babies platies can have in 1 batch.is it possible that a mother platy will not eat her fry cause my friends did.how long a wait is it before i can put the babies with there mum. is it normal for a female to ocasioinally poke the babies when there in the pregnant mum. thanks heaps.

Sadly, my Momma platy died today. Last week, I lost my female creamcicle mollie. The week before that, I lost my bala shark. All the new babies are dead along with the older babies. Somehow a wasp got into my tank and after that, I just about lost the entire tank to ick. In my tank now, I have the following:

Thanks for the awesome information on platies! Now I know all about them. But I still have one question… how many fry do platys have at once? I need to know because my platy had a baby, and i don’t know if there is only one, or if when i wasn’t home she ate the rest
Thanks for the idvice though.

Bryan: u can easily spot a pregnant platty from their stomach. Pregnant female platy will have a bigger stomach. The way guppy spawn is almost the same as platy. Female guppy will have a bigger size and a bigger stomach too.

ashley: it’s difficult for a pair of platy to breed, it’s good if you have 2 male 3 female for breeding..

I loved this page. I got my original fish. The Mom had babies, then died. Her remaining babies just had 4 sets of babies in the last week. I now have more fish I raised than bought. And my 3 year old is LOVING finding the new babies. I don’t separate them and just let nature do it’s thing. We have many hiding places for the babies to go. And we have had 12 in the past 2 weeks.

i was cleaning out my tank the other day and noticed that there was a baby platy about half a pinky nail long. i didnt know my platy was pregnant to begin with. but i think she is pregnant now because she looks like she is gonna pop. she is a light orange with a white stomach but the little spot you are suppose to look for isnt there to tell if she is pregnant. im new to this whole thing so any help would be greatly appreciated.

how long can thay live? i have a 90 gallon tank with angel fish,emperor tetras,blue&gold tetras,and a 9 year old clown loach. my p.h. is 5.8 and is a black water tank.so what i guess im asking will platies live for me?

I just received some Platys from a substitute teacher at my school who had some babies. I have five and am excited for my class to see the life cycle in these fish. Will having them in a sometimes noisy classroom affect their breeding?

i have a 50 gallon tank and i have 4 platy’s they are so cut my one question is i have 1 pregnant mickey mouse platy and she got pregnant with the tequila sun rise platy and my boy friend went and bought 2 more platys not knowing they were both males do u think i will have a problem? at this moment she is contained in a birthing condo til she has her fry i removed her because she looked stressed from the other males always swimming by her what would u suggest? I also have 5 blacked skirted tetra 2guppies 3 loaches wich keep my tank crystal clean a gigantic goldfish that weve had since 4 ever and 4 other type of fish we just cant figure out the names for them and they all seem very playful and content oh yeah and 5 zeba danios

Hey guys I got a few questions for you guys,
1, once a Platy gives birth, is she gonna keep on given birth to new fry every couple weeks???

2, how long does it take for a platy to give birth cuase, my platy had like 10 fry and I ran out to the store to buy a small tank for them once i came back with the tank they were all gone (eaten), but the mother still has a big belly.

Help! Six months ago I bought 12 platys. They did fine, no babies. Then two months ago the tank bloomed with algea. I tore the tank down and cleaned it. Reset everything and since then its a zoo! I have at least 3 dozen babies tearing around the tank and at least 3 more pregger females. The babies are doing great, the adults seem to mostly ignore them and I have more fish than I have tanks for! Is there ANY way to stop the baby fest??? They are cute though, the oarnge platys cross bred with the micky mouse and now I have pink micky mouse babies!

I would also like an answer to Peters question. How long does it take a Platy to give birth to all of her fry.
My Platy had about 10-12 fry, has eaten half of them.
I am afraid to put her back in the community tank in case she has more babies, butI am afraid to leave her with the fry.
What I need to know is: how do you know when your Platy is finished giving birth.
Thanks

I had the same thing happen to me, where the baby platies get stuck under the rocks. I dont know how they do it, but this morning i found one almost dead trying to get out from under the gravel. Just check every once in a while to see if you still have them all. They are hard to find cause they are so small.

Also, i have a question. This is my first time having fish, I have a 5 gallon tank with one platy, one balloon molly, a striped raphiel catfish, and now 2 platie fry. I think the Platy some how got pregnant, but i dont know how. Do they only mate with other platy? Because i have only had one platy.

How many babies does the mom usually have, because i was gone when my platy gave birth, and i only have 2 platy fry. I dont have a seperate tank for the babies, so i guess the mother must have already ate some… ):

Oh my gosh, today i cleaned out the filter, and i found 2 more platies that must have gotten sucked up. I started cleaning the tank this morning, and i left the filter system out all day. When i was reassembling the tank, i saw them. One ended up almost dead and died when i put him in water. Then i found another who made it into the tank and is now hiding somewhere. I hope all three live. The one i just found has been out of water all day long, just laying there almost dead. I am so releived to find them!!!

uh!!!! do not get mini-crabs!!! they were only a dollar fifty and they were pretty kwl so i got one. well, the first morning i had with it is was gone. i founf him inside my filter. he climbed up the pipe and got stuck inside. it also killed two fish and ate my babies!!! i returned him. also never get columbia tetra’s. they die soooo fast its unbelievable. i already had 4 fishes living in my tank. i just look inside my tank and there dead…. i was thinking, isnt it true that u almost always get the worst/oldest fish in the tank wen u buy fish? because the guy scooping them out always gets the easiest catch. therefore the fish he’ll catch is the slowest/oldest/sickest.

Hey. I’m completely new to this whole fish thing. I went to a pet store and was reccommended to buy a little 1.77 gallon aquarium. One of the employees told me I could put 6-8 fish in there. I went back the next day and a different employee told me I could only put 2 maybe 3 fish in the tank. I wanted to get some guppies and a few zebra fish but found out that I couldn’t get zebra fish because they grew bigger so instead I bought 2 platys. I put them in the tank as soon as I got home last night and they seem to be doing fine. I know I should wait a while longer to get more fish, but can I eventually get more fish and, if so, how many more can I get?

oh another thing. I’m not completely sure if one of the platys is a male. I know one is and the employee at the pet store was pretty sure the 2nd was too but not 100% sure. If the last fin is sometimes close to the body but sometimes hangs down, which is it? male or female? help please because i read the comments about the 1:2 ratio for male and females!

If u get a small tank then dun put too much fish in it, it will be very cramp. the fish wont grow well because of too little space for it to swim. try to get lesser fish for small tank. By the way, wat’s the dimension for 1.77 galloon tank? My country use to measure tank in inches and feet.

There is picture for u to refer at the post up there. Try to get 5 platy then the chances of getting male and female together will be higher.

Hi Can U tell me how to tell when my platy has finished giving birth. I dont know when she started but i saw a little one then rounded up five more and mum into the trap then she had another. I really want to get her out as the fry keep swiming up near her and i would like them to survive!!
Thanks

once the no. of fry stop at one level, you can separate the platy mother with fry.
Normally platy give birth in few hours time unless it get disturb.
so it’s save to separate the mother after a day time.

My platy had babies and when I got home they all where dead on the ground. They where soo small and looked undeveloped. Im not shure what happened but I know that the fry (baby platies) where not harassed by other fish because I but a glass divider in my tank and the only one in with the babies was the mother platy. The mother platy seems fine and so dose anyone know what happened or what? Please Help me!! because I want to have baby platies!!

Erica: normally you wont get 100% lives babies. some will dead during the labor time. i think in ur case there is some live one but got eaten. dun trust the platy mum. they always eat their babies. try to but the breeder tank if you planning to breed your platty.

KristenL! a good rule of thumb is 1 gallon per one inch of fish. so with only a 1.77 gallon tank, you can only really buy one fish, POSSIBLY two. but you’re not even supposed to go by the size when you get them, you’re supposed to go by their max adult size. whoever gave you the advice to get that tank for 6-8 fish is so WRONG!!! i have a 30 gallon and a 55 and i only have 6 in my 30 gallon and 15 in my 55. they will NOT be healthy if overcrowded.
now, my ? is, i just had 1 baby mickey mouse platy. what do i do? how do i make sure he’s ok? he’s in the 30 gallon with 2 danios, a cory cat, a swordtail, the mama mm platy and lots of snails. should i buy a smaller tank and separate him? thanks for any advice/suggestions..

ok, i have 3 red wag platys 1 male 2 female both the females are pregent when i bought them they where both already pregent and the 1 female is pretty big now the prob is i dont know when she is gunna have them i know it has to be pretty soon my guess 1-3weeks what are some ussaly signs taht she will give birth i the tank i also have 4 neon zebras they both get along very well. if i live her in that tank will some babies be able to survive? oh and in the tank i have 4 plants and a drift wood standing up in the corner…this is a 20g tank

hi i have some platy fish, swordtale,and micky mouse. I have some molly fish in my tank too. i want my fish to breed, and have a lot of fry. So my question is can i pick out a platy for for my other platy fish to breed with?

Oh and will they breed in a little cave that i have in the tank or do i need to buy a breeding net, trap, box, or tank? (that is if they WILL breed)

And what does it mean when my male platy fish puts his “thing” forward?

Keldra: u can put few platys (3 female and 2 male) together and wait for them to mate. They wont breed in the cave tat you ready for them. You need to buy a breeding tank for them to avoid being eaten by other fish or parents.

Keldra: i’m didnt work in any pet shop before. i’m a web developer. this is one of my hobby since very young. No worry, platy fish is easy to mate and breed. Just take good care for them and they will breed easily.

brother gets his hair cut. A few days later after i brought them home one died. i knew it died because it was a big one, and i havent seen it in a few days so when i looked for it, it was behind my filter and it was desalving a little so i took it out, and when i did i found some other dead fish in there 2. I was really sad because one of them was going 2 have babys…So i took out all of the dead fish and put the live fish in a plastic bag. then i clean out the tank, but then when i put the bag in the tank for the fish to ajust 2 the water I saw that all of the fish in the bag were dead. So all of my fish died all on the same day!!!

omg i have soooo maney questions i hope ur not anoyed by me!!! well i am confused my friend told me that if a platy fish is breeding it means its particapating in repraduction. and if its mating its doing the same. then my OTHER friend said,”no thats wrong, if its breeding its giving birth and if its mating its particapating in repraduction.

our mickey mouse platies just had 3 fry about 2 weeks ago and all are doing well. we didn’t isolate them or anything. we have aggressive fish (angels and gold guaramis) but nobody seemed to bother the small ones. they are getting bigger now, almost 1/2 inch and are starting to develop there mickey mouse spots!

hello SoGua,
guess what MY MICKEY MOUSE FISH HAD BBY’S!!! HAY i am sooooo that my fish had bby’s!!! i really wanted my fish 2 have bby’s and she did!!! i had a fish that was going 2 have bby’s about 2 month’s ago but right when i told everyone that the fish i had 2 months ago was going 2 have bby’s she died! =^((( so thats another reason y im glad that she lived and had a helthy birth. BUT she ate some of them 2 there was about 15 or 14 fish in a jar that i had to catch witch took about a hour and i scared the mama fish that dint have ALL of her bby fish and she had more right when i caught all of the little fish! so when i went upstaries agian i saw more in there but of course i probably dint catch all of them cuz i seen some hiding in the little rockes in there but i did’nt have time to catch them. Then i put the mama fish in there to so i could show my mom them and i only planed to have the mama fish in the jar for only a little bit so she wonuldnd eat them. But when i was going to show her she said that she would look at them in a little bit and that little bit turned into 25 min. or so and i forgot about them untel my mom finished making lunch and said “ok i’ll look at them now.” then i remeberd and i said, “oh no i forgot!!!” and when i looked in the jar there was only 3 left only 3 left i conted about 8 times…. so i was a little sad about that but atlesed there were 3 and not none!!!

I have a question if a fish has baby’s is it true that they wont stop havny baby’s???

Hi There, my partner as a few platies – some blue marbled with babies several month old. The female of the 3 red platies is acting strange – until a few days ago she was very active with all the others, now she burrows down into the gravel, lays on the ornaments – a month ago her breast was huge and I thought she was pregnant, but now she does not seem so. She is not wasting away, and when you go to the tank comes to the top to feed .. then lays back down.

How long before you can tell if the babies are male or female? My babies have been in a grow out tank for some time now, they are about half and inch long. They all have the fan fin that females have but some of them have a brighter white line at the tip of the fan. Does this mean anything? I’ve been told I have to wait 4-5 months before I can sex them. Is this true?

i just discovered four platy fry in my fish tank. which i was not expecting, becuase i was under the impression that i had one female platy and one female platy/swordtail cross. But i think that i have determined that the platy/swordtail cross is a male. anyways they are about a quarter of an inch long and they don’t seem to be bothered much by my other fish.

my questions are…
what will they be like if they are part swordtail?
how old do you think that they are?
and when do i need to sex them so that i can remove one sex to avoid having more babies?

Hello all – great site!
I bought my first 2 platys about a week ago – 2 girls. After about 3 days i noticed one was smaller and then lo’ and behold 3 or 4 teeny tiny baby platyes appeared in the tank!
I reeeeeally want to try and rear them but am finding it very difficult to catch them to separate from the other 2 adults. They are now about 4 or 5 days old and a little more active – swimming about the bottom of the tank (i have short plastic plants covering most of the the bottom of the tank where they seem happiest to hide) and even poking about the plants and picking up bits of the “first bites” that fall to the bottom.
Since I have no other fish in there, is is safe to keep them in the same tank as the mother (and her gal pal)? If so, how often should i feed everyone to avoid a baby-eating situation but also make sure babies get to eat??? There are plenty of places for the wee ones to hide and they have survived this long??
Thanks everyone!!!

Hey, i have a female platy that was in the same tank as three male platy and i’ve noticed her belly getting fatter everyday so i have set up a one gallon tank and moved her there. I’ve looked all over the internet and read that they are suposed to have a black gravid spot and they are supposed to be calm and stay at the bottom and eat less than usual. My platy didn’t show any change in behavior, she was always happy swiming aroung and chasing my finger like usual, but however she had a really red spot near her bottom fins, and about a week later she had 23 fry and 2 were born deformed, i have been feeding the fry regulary but today i forgot to feed them this morning caus i was late to school..how bad will this affect them?, i’ve fed them twice last night till 11PM

I had a yellow and orange male platy who was extremely overweight to the point that he couldn’t swim, he ate one of the snails I had in my tank; he died this morning. Did he die because he ate the snail or did he die because he was overweight?

Everything I read says gestation period is about 1 month, I bought two platys about 3 and a half months ago, no idea of the sex, one platy lasted only about 10 days, and the other one is still going strong, HOWEVER, I came home from Christmas to find she had given birth to at least one baby. When that has been the only platy in the tank for over 3 months, how exactly did a baby happen???

Madz: it’s better to seperate it from the mum to avoid being eaten. Just feed them once a day or once for 2 days will do.

Tiffany: i really cant tell u this. normally it wont be overweight like human, cuz human do not control themselve on eating :p

Tomy: i really have no idea about this. probably it pregnant since you bought home and breed but didnt notice it until you came back from Christmas and it left one in the tank. Bear in mind, Normaly platy wont breed only babies, normally they have many many babies.

I bought 2 Sunrise Platies 3 weeks ago. What I thought was the “the fat one” gave birth yesterday. In a hurry I managed to isolate 35 fry in a large crystal vase. I covered the opening with a piece of netting then put the vase back into the aquarium. I’m truly excited by this development. 1 fry was already dead. 1 escaped into the leaves. This means at least 37 were born. I helped my nephew set up an aquarium on Saturday and told him that we would get some fish the following weekend. He will now have 35 sunrise platy fry!

Hi. I just got a platy & was told she is pregnant. Her belly is swollen and the bottom of her belly looks black (eyes?) I have never had a pregnant fish. She is in a tank alone. If I can already see the babies eyes, how long approx. until she gives birth?

One of my platys has had a baby. I don’t know which one was the mother because it was unexpected. The fry is about 1/2 centimetres long. It seems to be moving around so if is probably a few weeks old. How fast do they grow to their maximum size if they are in heated water?
The fry seems to be in no danger of the other platys, I don’t know which one is the mother, but I’ll soon find out by the colour of the fry.
The fry darts away from the larger platys and hides in the plants in the tank, so it won’t be eaten.

hi i have a 30 gallon tank and i have 3 platy fish 1 female and two male and i wanted to know why they are not breeding i have had them for quite some time its been like almost half a year and the female only gave on batch is that normal? can she not breed anymore???thanks bye ^.^

I have a question about my red wag platy. When I first bought them I didn’t know the difference between male or female so I asked the store person to give me one male and one female. So she did. And now that I think about I think she gave me two males instead because the third fin looks nothing like a female’s fin. But it’s stomach is bloated like its pregnant, so I don’t know what the heck is going on…? It’s been like that for a few days now and I’ve looked on different websites, asked the stores, and asked fish friends, but no one seemed to have answered my question. So, if anyone can help answer my question, I would be truly grateful.

Err, hello Qs here. See, I had 5 (children) platys & 3 adult snails. Then 1 day a platy died and that’s when I noticed
My snails had babies, then my platys kept dying and now I
Just have 2! Then I bought 2 pregnant platys
But, 1 looks kinda like its gonna die.. Is that common
Behavior?

My Platty gave birth 2 weeks ago on Sunday, she had 35 and they are all alive.,,(so proud..lol). They are all doing really well and very active. How long after birth can you put them back into the main tank with the others. Is there a rule on time limit or is it simply as long as the other fish can’t eat them. They are just about a cm in length. Thanks for any help………..Great site by the way!

My success comes from getting the females pregnant in the main tank, then moving both of the females to the Fry Tank. There’s enough Java Moss to where the fry survive and my females don’t even try to eat them. I found out that my Male Mickey Mouse Platy has the Tiger Platy Gene, so I have 5+ Tiger Platy fry so far!! I’m going to breed the Tiger Platies, and their body color is Smokey Gray with Black fins and thin Black stripes. I posted some pictures of my fry in this forum thread.http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/freshwater-general-discussion/63168-we-have-fry-i-repeat-we-have-fry-8.html

I have 2 sunburst platys and lastnight my boyfriend noticed that one of the platys belly is a lot bigger then the other one. we compared belly sizes and it sure is bigger. We got home from work and it was booting around the tank like a crazy fish, and now suddenly it’s at the bottom of the tank in a corner breathing heavy not doing anything. Somoeone suggested that its pregnant and i’ve never had a pregnant fish before so I’m not sure. Please help im so nervous, my fish are my babies is this normal is their pregnant

Hi, i’m looking for a little advice please. I’m new to all this,my tank has 4 Neon Tetra, 1 Siamese fighting fish, i recently introduced 2 female tuxedo platy but my siamese didn’t take to them at all. He kept attacking them so i had to take them back to the pet store (gutted as they were lovely) instead i Brought home 2 Albino Cory as a replacement to complete my tank. When i introduced them into the tank, i noticed when they went near the rocks that there was 3 tiny baby fish hiding. I am in shock and do not really know what to do it is impossible to catch them, i am assuming that the short while that the platy were in my tank 1 of them has gave birth!!! My Siamese seems to be hanging around the rock they are hiding under as if he knows. What are their chances of survival and what can i do to help them? Please some advice on this will be very much appreciated. Thanks Karen

i have 7 platys 5 female and 2 male and i have 3 mollies 2 male and 1 female and 3 of the platys gave birth and out of them i saved 11 and the mollie gave birth and i save 29 but the platy where 3 weeks old when the mollie babys were put in the same breeding trap and i only have 7 mollie babies left did the platy baby kill them because they were to small or because it was too overcrowded

So, I noticed a couple of comments regarding pregnant females in the absence of a male. Many livebearers can remain fertilized up to 5-6 months after the initial fertilization with the male. This means that a platy can mate with a male, be taken away from the male, have fry, and continue to have fry monthly for the next few months.

My classroom aquarium has 5 platys. I knew one female was pregnant, so when the kids started back to school last week I told them to be extra quiet around the tank. I checked on her daily, and Monday morning found one fry. The kids were ecstatic. We now have 6 fry in a still-water tank to grow (some others smothered themselves under rocks, and I assume adults ate the rest).

In reference to the crab comment: I have fiddler crabs as well as red-clawed crabs. When I feed my cichlids a snack of minnows, I always give the crabs a few to catch. If the crabs are well-fed they will leave other fish alone. I have used the crab tank as an isolation tank in the past when the tetras get sick, and the crabs currently have a tank mate of a female Betta. They live in harmony. Fast-moving fish are safe with the crabs as long as the tank is large enough. CRABS NEED ACCESS TO AIR – they will drown if they don’t get to the surface of the water. One of my Red-clawed crabs is always in my filter (eating anything that passes through). He only comes out when I feed them or when the male fiddler (a much bigger crab) decides it is his turn to eat from the filter. Do some research and don’t mix animals that are predators/prey, and give them enough SPACE.

I have one female Platy who is competely orange and she is very pregnant and looks like she is about to drop anything minute, but she has been looking like this for about 2-3 day now. She has had 18 fry already about 4 weeks ago but i didnt realise until i was cleaning the tank that she had them, but because i realized that she was so big now and i have put her in a breeding net so when she has them she will be separated from them from the frys. However, i was having a look at her to see if she was ok and i have noticed that between the three fins on her belly that she has a white spot which look like it maybe getting bigger. I have no idea what this is, just that is where the new fry will come out. Also i have been doing loads of research trying to find out if anyone else has had the same thing but no one seem to have mention anything like this on all the sites i have looked at. Please can you help me and let me know if you have any ideas what this is? I think though she is about to give birth since this morning she was sitting in the bottom corner with her tail slightly raised. I would appreciate any advice and help you can give me. Thanks

hi im looking from advice,and would appreciate any help.i have a healthy tank with nice fish,i have 2 female sunset platy’s,which are my most recent purchase.{around 6 weeks ago}yesterday i noticed a minute baby platy hiding under all of the plants in the tank.{it was so cute!}.should i do anything with it?i think trying to catch it would be impossible and distressing.also the mother is still very large.is she still pregnant?should i get her a breeding tamk and seperate her from the other fish?have i missed the birth as i have heard they can have many babies,and their is definately only 1|im confused and want to do anything i can to help my fish.please help tracie

my platy is having babies now and i moved i messed up didnt i she was in a larger fish tank with 2 male platy and they were chasing her around the tank so i thought i had better move her idk what to do didnt exspect babies HELP

about how long does it take for platy fry to grow up because I have had two platy fry for about a year now and the biggest one isn’t even half the size of her mother. Got any tips? Oh yeah the baby is a female, could that have anything to do with it?

My sister bought me two platy fish today so when i got them i came home and put them in a tank. I left for about an hour to an hour and a half and when i got home i had baby platy fish.
How many babies can a platy fish have?

OMG!!! i just read that i can scare my platy and she will abort the birth!!! i freaked out cuz i came home from work i knew she was prego but thought i had another week… i just got the breeding tank… i have to remind my BF to look in on her and he said he did and she was fine but when i went to go say hello i flipped out cuz i saw a baby swimming around!!! i immediately poured some tank water into a big glass bowl and got my other fish out the tank!!! then when i went to put the mama in the breeder she was really hard to catch… ive been waiting for awhile now but no other little ones have come out and now she is going crazy swimming side to side like pacing… did i freak her out and have her abort the rest :/ is she going to die!!! plz help ASAP!!!

i think she is being scared by you.
try to leave her alone.
and she will be ok.
if possible put her in dark environment and she will continue her breeding.
although platy breed during day too but for my experience,
if i leave them in dark and peaceful environment for few hours,
you will see many small babies later

ya well we only have/ had 3 fish and the pet store said that was a good size but now i think we are going to need a bigger one and just keep the fry in the old one… how long do i have to keep them separated from the other fish???

I havent had any fish since i was little… my BF thought it would be a good idea for his 3yr old daughter… but i fell in love with them : ) and now i think i would do anything for them lol : ) tomorrow im going to the store to buy them fry food another tank and some more plat life :/thank you soooo much you really helped me!!! i will blog you tomorrow and let you know how many she had : ) thanks again!!!

Hey just an update on my little fry : ) they will be two weeks on tue and have grown alot since they were born… i just bought another tank for them cuz i feel like the adults were a little crowded… but i was wondering can i let the little ones loose or will the fillter hurt them/suck them up????